Damping mechanism for oscillating systems



Marino/v @4M/as@ July 23, 1940. RY Y 2,209,140

DAHPING MECHANISM FOR 0SYCILLIA'I'ING;SYSTEMS- Filed July 6, 1938- l l JCI! l.' 1 0\ l? 14 45 47 16 WaP/WMw/a y Eve/(far:

Patented July 23, v1940y namento MEcnANI SM FOB SCILLATING Istvitn Bybr, Budapest,

one-half to the iirm Priclsions Mec Hungary d he und Optische' Anstalt Ferdinand Sss A. G..

Budapest, Hungary Application July s, 193s; serai No. :n.829 In Hunsary July 6. 193'? 4 (.llnims.` (Cl. 265.15)

The present invention relates to means for damping the oscillations of swinging bodies such as thependulums of instruments.

'There are known measuring instruments, in

5 which an oscillating system, for example a tor-.

sion pendulum is suspended and when mea-sur ing therewith, the state of equilibrium of the pendulum is to be observed. An instrument of this kind is for instance Coulombs and Etvss '10 torsion pendulum. If an apparatus comprising such `a pendulum is removed or set in another aaimuth, due to the'movement of the apparatus, the pendulum is vehemently agitated, itv knocks alternately against the opposite walls of its bon 15 or against the stops arranged therein and then owing to the shocks and to the damping effect of the air containedin the box its movement isl slowed down and iinally ,ai'ter the last shock, by the damping action of the air only, aperiodically 2o or carrying out a damped oscillation, it attains the state oi equilibrium.

In case of a pendulum used in practice it is oi greet importance that this damping should be accomplished as quickly. as possible, as thus'the u time oi measuring will become considerably shorter. The damping after the last shock 0i the pendulum may be increased only to a certain limit without endangering the sensitivity oi the pendulum. Therefore, there is a tendency to in- I crease damping by reducing as much as possible the time elapsing during the shocks o! the pendulum, that is the time between the coming into rest o! the apparatus and the last shock' of the pendulum.

.f5 with this object in view it has been proposed to employ elastic stops,l for instance stops oi' cork,l paper or stopsv constituted by metal wire springs, which, when receiving the shocks of the oscillatins pendulum, are bent or compressed and u thus absorb a part of the kinetic energy of the .oscillating pendulum. However, after this the elastic stops endeavour to regain their original shape and by this-they impart to the pendulum a considerable part oi the kinetic energy absorbed so that'the latter leaves the stops at a relatively hish speed.

The invention has for its object to provide stops which use the energy absorbed from the oscillating pendulum to move their own mass and thus a the absorbed energy is not given back to the pendulum and this provision renders possible a very goodv damping by means of a simple oonstructin and without reducing the'sensitiveness 'of the pendulum.

With this object in view a movable, preferably fork-dike stop of suitable mass is employed, which embraces with its two tines the end of the pendulum so that the latter during its oscillation when striking alternately against the two tines of the fork pushes the fork and by this a con- 5. siderable part of its energy is transmitted to the stop by which the movement of the pendulumdue to the reaction caused by the shockis greatly damped. If the pendulum is not fully damped' by the lo irst shock and when leaving `this ,tine of the stop fork it strikes against the other tine of the stopv fork which has been pushed away ,by vthe rst shock, the above described damping is pro'- duced-once more and so on.

Inthe annexed drawing some embodiments of the invention are represented by way of example. Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of Etvss pendulum in the middle position o! the stopV fork.

Fig. 2 is a partial side elevational the same. ne

Fig. ,3 is also a plan view, but in one extreme position-of the stop fork.

Finally Figs. 4 and 5 show two further embodiments.

The end 2. oi pendulum i extends between the s tines of stop fork mounted on a pivot A. The fork l is constituted by a substantially horseshoe-shapedfplate which is mounted at the een tre 'of its bent portion by the aid of a hub supported byspokes. The pivot projects at its lower part into the base plate 6 and at the upper part into the twice bent bearing plate 1. The ends of the tines `of, the fork are bent inwardly as shown in the drawing. The turning of fork 3 about pivot 4 is limitedby stops I which are of cork or any other elastic material or may bespring-controlled to avoid a hard shock of the fork.

Ii' the pendulum l is oscillated and it strikes against one of the tines of fork 3 it transmits its energy to the stop fork. Should this position be the state oi' equilibrium of the pendulum it remains immobile. However, if the striking position is not the state of equilibrium of the pendulum the pendulum will swing backwards and will a strike againstthe other tine oi' the fork, but now with a considerably damped energy. After a few oscillations of this'kind the oscillations oi the pendulum are damped to such an extent that it does not touch the tines or the fork and there- 50 vilrst causes the stop fork I to move against the v stops I, will later reciprocate the fork with a les! u of fork and the path of the fork in s'uch away that the tines of the fork will not touch the pendulum vwhen the same is in the state of equilibrium.

To increase the damping eilect, the above described damping fork or damping device may be arranged at both ends of the pendulum.

The limiting stops may also have the form of a stop fork so that the rst damping fork might move like the pendulum between the'tines of another fork. This embodiment is shownfin Fig. 4, wherein the tines of the fork 3 strike against the tines of a fork I0 oscillating on a pivot 9.

- The projection I I of the fork `II) extending beyond the pivot 9 may strike against the tines of a fork I3v oscillating on a pivot I2.

In the -embodiment shown in Fig. 5 `a twoarmed lever I5 oscillating on pivot I4 is arranged at each side of the oscillating member I and the ends I6 thereof are directed towards the oscillating member in such a way that the latter vmay strike during its oscillations against the ends I6 of levers I5. In order to limit the oscillations of the levers, stops I1 may be provided on both ends thereof. If desired, a two-armed lever I5 may be arranged also on one side only of the oscillating member.

The expression fork in this specification is to be takenin the most general 'sense thereof, and it may include any element which surrounds the pendulum with two arms or projections either at its ends or at any other point.

fork for moving the same and damping the pen-Y dulum, abutmentsv limiting the movements of said fork, said tines being spaced with respect to each other so that the pendulum when in equilibrium will not engage the fork when the same is in either extreme position.

` 3. In an instrument having an oscillating pendulum, a pivoted damping lever. having abutting portions swingable between two extreme'positions, said pendulum engaging said abutting por#V tions of said lever for moving `the latter and damping the pendulum,`abutments limiting the movement of said lever, said abutting portions being disposed in such a manner that the pendulum when in equilibrium will not engage said lever when the latter is in either extreme position.

4. In an instrument having an oscillating pendulum, rocking means having abutting portions swingable between two extreme positions, said pendulum engaging said abutting portions of said rocking means for moving the latter and damping the pendulum, and abutments limiting the movement of said rocking means, said abutting por-x tions being disposed in such a manner that 'the pendulum when in equilibrium will not engage l said rocking means when the latter is in either extreme position.

' IsTvAN RYBR. 

